6326 NUMBERED OIL LAW AND DEMOCRATIC PARTY PERIOD OIL POLICY

Abstract

Underground resources are one of the most important elements playing a major role in the economic development of states. One of the underground resources, which is known as natural resource, is oil. As it is learned that the economic value of petrol is high, this led the world states to the determination of the policies according to the geographies, where oil is intense. When it became known that the middle east, where was a part of Ottoman Empire, was very rich in oil, the western states tended to take over the middle east, they even made plans for this cause. At the end of the 19th century, with the reason that Anatolia is near to Middle East, the studies on the possibility of oil in the lands we live on began. Until the Republican period, although small-scale studies on the discovery and operation of oil have been made, the real development in this regard has been experienced after the establishment of the Republic of Turkey. The Republican governments have resorted to legal regulations on oil and made decisions to produce oil at the helm of the state first. The Oil Law was first issued in 1954 with the law numbered 6326 to undertake exploration work to extract more oil in our state. Then the Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO) was established with the law numbered 6327. This Petroleum Law also gives foreign companies the privileges of oil exploration. Thus, oil exploration efforts have begun to be carried out by foreigners on the axis of the Democratic Party period politics. This study first explored the developments in oil extraction in Turkey until the Oil Law was adopted in 1954, and then the improvements that occurred as a result of the adoption of the Oil Law, numbered 6326.